Reaching the Outside World

Overview

UNDP uses external communications to connect with the world outside our organization. Routine and strategically executed external communications educates and informs, advocates for human development and helps achieve progressive change. It ensures UNDP’s visibility among critical sources of support: UN Member States, government officials, donors, human development advocates, other international organizations and the private sector.

This section of the toolkit offers a practical orientation on UNDP’s most important external communications vehicles, including the media and publications. The second half provides information on subjects common to all forms of communication—writing style, translation, graphic design and the hiring of staff and vendors.

The structure of the section should not suggest that you work on any method of communications in isolation. Publishing a report, for example, may call for a menu of activities guided by a communications strategy. But each function requires specific tasks. Users of the toolkit can refer to them individually or in different combinations.

Keep in mind that what you have to say is always matched in importance by people’s willingness to hear it. Strategic communications builds a bridge so that a connection takes place.